Author's note: Hey fellow readers, I'm glad I could manage to finally finish the second chapter. And with that being said, a quick warning here: this chapter is going to be somewhat dramatic and also expect a HOT scene…! Anyways, I hope you have fun reading it! :)
Chapter 2: I don't recognize you anymore…
The days went on after Anders had showed the four women what the surface had been looking like ever since the last war. And everyone was quite shocked when they found out that life on the surface was in fact… impossible. Hope however had only one thing in her mind the whole time they had to attend training and show up at the school, which apparently turned out to be for kids but still none of the four women had complained about how ridiculous nor surreal it felt… and the only thing Hope could think of meanwhile were possible ways to take revenge on Bardo. Revenge for what they did to her. Revenge for what they did to Echo, her mother and Octavia. She wouldn't take anything serious that Anders did expect of them. On the contrary, the Diyoza caught the headmasters' attention every time she would refuse to obey. And Echo immediately noticed. Worried that Hope would only bring herself further in danger if she didn't play along. It drove her upset that Hope still continued on with her reckless behaviour without thinking about the consequences.
In the evening the Azgeda warrior then decided to sneak into Hope's room, not for anyone to notice. After all Echo was trained perfectly in her skill as a spy and so she would make her way to Hope's room perfectly quiet, without making a single sound. One last time she quickly glanced around before finally opening the door, entering the room and not a second later closing the door behind her again.
"Echo?", the blonde said bewildered. Hope hadn't been asleep yet and was straightening up now as Echo approached her.
"Hey", the brunette responded, a soft smile on her face as she sat down on her bed.
"Won't they notice if you…"
"No", Echo said and chuckled lightly. "I was a spy after all, remember?"
Hope responded with a smile. "Right."
Their eyes were locked on each other for a while and then Hope reached out her hands, placing it on Echo's cheeks before giving her a gentle kiss.
"Come here", she whispered and gestured Echo to join her under the covers.
And within a few seconds the brunette did, what she was told and lay down next to her, both side to side, face to face. Echo studied her face for a while. "Listen, I want you to know that whatever happens I will always love you. But we gotta talk about your behaviour today and-"
"I think that can wait till tomorrow", Hope interrupted her, grinning while moving a bit closer. Echo's glance fell down her lips when she replied, her voice a whisper: "I love you too."
And then she kissed her again, Echo giving in while kissing her back more demandingly, now moving over her. Soon they started taking off their clothes one after another until they were entirely feeling each other's skin against their bodies. Echo slowly moved down Hope's neck, greeting her skin with a kiss every time she would move further down. And then finally as she had reached her desired area, her head between Hope's legs, the blonde started to moan. At once Echo stopped herself again and covered Hope's mouth with her hand, telling her to be quiet because of the disciples who were still around. But it took Hope extreme self-control as soon as the brunette continued what she had started. Her hands were desperately clinging onto the mattress, her head pushing backwards into her pillow. She even bit her lip just to keep quiet. And then finally a flush of heat went trough her whole body as Echo had brought her to the highest point. Hope was panting heavily while the brunette crawled over her, before rolling to the side. A satisfied grin on her face. But it wasn't over yet. Soon Hope started kissing her again, now for her turn.
"When are we gonna tell them?", Hope whispered, her voice drowsy as she had placed her head on Echo's shoulder while enjoying the moment a bit longer.
"I don't know…", Echo responded. "When the right time will come, maybe."
She then gave her a kiss on her head and soon they fell asleep. Both safe and sound. Finally together again like in the good old days on Skyring.
The next morning felt heavy as Hope opened her eyes and turned her head to the side. Echo wasn't around anymore and had probably left her earlier in the morning. Disappointment raised up in her chest.
"The disciples… yeah, right", she muttered to herself in thought before getting up and changing into her clothes.
Now was the time for training and afterwards they had to attend the simulation test again. Again. It bugged the crap out of her only thinking about it. She hated it immeasurably. No matter how many times Hope would attend it, every time she made the same mistake, which she actually didn't consider to be a mistake at all. Never would the Diyoza sacrifice her love for her people and family. And yet again she had to attend this torture of a test. She sighed.
After joining her mother, Octavia, Echo and Levitt in the weapon room, chatting a bit with the disciple trainee, they were being introduced to laser weapons which they would use in a moment to hit the circles in front of them while wearing blindfolds.
"Are these weapons lethal?", Echo later asked as they had entered the training room, now equipping their laser guns.
"No", Anders replied, slightly bewildered.
The same expression on Hope's face as she was glancing at her.
"Is everyone ready?", the headmaster finally asked while everyone was being blindfolded by their training partners. "Begin."
And in an instant the laser guns rang out as everyone began to shoot. All except for… Echo. The brunette suddenly turned to the others and shot wildly towards their direction until everyone was shot down, now laying on the floor. Then she turned back again and - to no one's surprise landed a perfect hit in the middle.
"What the hell", Hope exclaimed annoyed while getting up again.
"I won", Echo simply responded.
"Technically", Levitt said. "But you broke the spirit of the rules."
"Following rules isn't how you win a war."
Anders however smiled in satisfaction. He liked the way of Echo's thinking. "Perfect Control. That is how we win."
Hope's eyes remained on Echo the whole time. Now seeing her proud grin on her face made her feel painfully sick. She didn't understand it. Nothing of Echo's behaviour made sense. Why was she so determined to fight for their stupid war all of a sudden? It didn't make sense at all, Hope thought. She shook her head and glanced off while supressing the feeling of anger coming up. Not now.
On their way to the simulation test none of the four women said a word. It seemed as if everyone was occupied with their own minds. Preparing for the possible scenarios that could come up while being in the simulation. Diyoza thought about signs to look out for but still couldn't quite figure it out yet.
"Ready?", Levitt asked Hope and Echo as they were sitting next to each other separately, each of them about to vanish into the simulation in a moment.
Both were leaning back and soon could feel how they slowly lost control over their minds and bodies. After a while Echo opened her eyes again as the sunrays were tickling her nose. Her head felt heavy as stone.
"Echo!", she suddenly heard Hope's voice from inside the cabin. "Lunch's ready!"
At once she straightened up, her glance falling over the wild grass around her, the beautiful, dreamy landscape and as she raised her head, she could see the ring up in the sky. Skyring. What did just happen? Why did it feel so strange yet familiar? She couldn't even remember her dream as she had been asleep outside for hours. At least that's what it felt like.
"Echo?", Hope said annoyed as she stepped out the backdoor of the cabin behind her. "Why aren't you coming already? We've been waiting for you."
The Azgeda warrior turned around. Her eyes meeting the hazel one's of Hope's. Her heart made a jump. At once she tried to supress her feelings again while slowly getting up.
"Come on", Hope beckoned to her.
A gust of wind blew through Hope's tied hair which made her brush a few strands out her face. Echo smiled as she was only staring at her dumbfounded until she finally followed her into the cabin, that is.
"Finally!", Gabriel exclaimed relieved as Echo and Hope sat down at the table to join them. "Man, I'm starving."
"Pumpkin soup", Echo mumbled to herself in surprise. "How I missed it."
Hope chuckled. "What do you mean? We just ate it yesterday."
Yesterday? The other girl frowned. "Feels like it has been ages…"
All of a sudden, a loud sizzle and buzzing came from the forest outside. At once everyone turned their heads to the window where they could see the green shimmer of the anomaly.
"What's happening?!", Echo asked in panic. The sound became louder.
"The bridge!", Hope shouted. "It's opened."
A sudden clang made everyone startle. It was Orlando who had dropped his spoon on the ground, now shivering slightly. "I-It's time! Absolution day!"
Something feels off, Echo thought. And then suddenly Orlando ran outside, shouting while waving his arms in a wild motion. "Here! I'm heeeere!"
A disciple walked towards the cabin. "Master Orlando, your time has come."
Another four of them became visible right behind him. "Everyone in the cabin, come out now!"
"They'll kill us!", Echo said worryingly.
"No, they won't", Hope responded with a stern voice. A knife in her hand.
"Hope, are you sure we can take them down? They're probably much stronger than us", Gabriel said.
"We gotta try at least."
All of a sudden Echo felt a sharp pain in her right hand. It was as if something had pierced through it, but she couldn't see anything as she was looking at it. Where was it coming from? Again, a wave of pain flushed through her hand. It felt unbearable. Wait a second, she thought. I did that to myself… yes, I remember now.
"Commit to the last war for all mankind and you'll be safe!", the disciple shouted towards them.
Even Gabriel had a knife in his hand by now while switching a few looks with Hope.
"We're gonna kill them", Hope snarled through her teeth. "Every single one of them."
"No", Echo said. "Don't do it. They'll take us with them. We'll be safe, trust me."
"What's the matter with you?", Hope said in anger. "They are the enemy! We can't trust them, you know that."
"Yes, we can. Killing them isn't an option."
And then Echo ran outside while her hands raised up, showing them that she was unarmed. Still the disciples stayed cautious and didn't let their weapons down yet.
"What the hell are you doing!", Hope called after her, but it was already too late.
"We'll fight for your war!", Echo shouted towards the disciples. "We'll come with you!"
Suddenly everything around her became blurry until it all faded away like a cloud of smoke. Her eyes opened slowly as she could see the bright light of the simulation room. And somehow she felt sad. Having to leave her home once again. It hurt.
"Congratulations. You passed the test", Levitt smiled.
Echo merely nodded. Her glance fell instantly to Hope. Waiting for her to finally wake up. A sharp pain suddenly pierced through her hand once again. The familiar pain. Her glance fell secretly over her right hand, not for Levitt to notice. She had been hiding it since they came out from their training before: A deep cut in the palm of her hand. A line of dark blood was covering it as it had dried back then. And then a sound of the machines interrupted her thoughts, coming from Hope's direction.
"You failed the test, Hope", Levitt sighed. "Actually, it's quite impressive that you, Echo, passed it. Not everyone can manage to let go of their bonds that quickly."
"What a surprise", Hope scoffed. "This is bullshit. All of this!"
She stood up and glared at Levitt. "Is this the only thing you know? How to brainwash people?"
"Look, I know you're upset", Levitt replied.
"No, you don't. And you wanna know why? Because you never cared for other people to begin with!"
"Hope", Echo interrupted her, her voice calm. Trying to warn her.
"Go float yourself" was the only thing Hope said to her before furiously stomping out of the room.
With no hesitation Echo followed her straight, trying to stop her outside as Hope was already around the corner. "Hope, stop!"
She grabbed her arm roughly which made the blonde instantly stop at the spot.
"Let go of me!", she hissed at her. But Echo's grip remained. Now even tighter till Hope entirely stopped fighting back.
As both calmed down a bit, the former Azgeda spy quickly turned back to see if any disciple was around. "What the hell was that right now?"
Hope glanced off. "I'm done", she said while throwing her arms into the air. "I'm not gonna fight for their stupid war."
"Stop it! You are blinded with anger. Don't you realise how you're only making it all worse?"
"What do you care about!", Hope raised her voice. "You only know how to follow orders after all, don't you?"
"Do you know how hard it is to always be looking out for you?!", Echo yelled at her, now boiling up with anger herself as she had finally enough. "Hope, you're not a child. I told you to get yourself together, dammit!"
But the blonde only scoffed and shook her head. "You know, it almost sounds like you regret being with me."
She felt sick to her stomach, having to speak that thought out loudly. After all they had been together for the last 5 years. Happy, careless and there was never anything that would stand between them. It had always been easy, but why not now? Why was it that Echo suddenly didn't care about her family now? Why was it that she bought in to their brainwashing, following their orders without blinking an eye?
"I have enough", Hope said, disappointment was swinging with her voice. "Just leave me alone."
She turned around, ready to go but suddenly Echo grabbed her arm again, holding her back.
"Hope, I really mean it. You know that you can't go on like this or otherwise they will send you to penance soon enough again."
"Well maybe that isn't such a bad idea. At least I was happy there."
She pulled her arm away from her grip, turning around before making her way to her room. Echo only stared at her. Desperate to find a solution, desperate to bring Hope back to her senses again. But in that moment she knew that she had already lost her.